Automatic milk-receiver.



T. A. JENKINS.

AUTOMATIC MILK RECEIVER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16. 1915.

1 1 86,793 Patented June 13, 1916.

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The COL MBIA PLANOGRAPH C0,, WASHINGTON D C T. A. JENKINS.

AUTOMATIC MILK RECEIVER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY16, 1915.

Patented June 13, 1916.

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THOMAS A. ,iEnKINs, or HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC MILK-RECEIVER.

In the delivery of milk in bottles and the subsequent collection of the empty bottles,

as is almost. universally practised today, many disadvantages obtain. Frequently, the filled bottles are surreptitiously taken from the consumer after having been properly delivered, thereby giving rise to considerable dissatisfaction, inconvenience and false accusations; the bottles usually occupy a very conspicuous position on steps, porches, window sills and the like, which fact renders them very unsightly besides inviting the inadvertent knocking over and breaking of the bottles; and by reason of such exposure the milk is subjected to extreme temperatures with the result that the bottles are often broken by freezing in the cold seasons, and the milk allowed to get so warm in mild seasons as to be unfit for immediate consumption. I overcome these inherent disadvantages by the provision of a receiver in the form of a cabinet equipped with a. door carrying locking mechanism cooperating with a movable bottom or support for the bottles. The locking mechanism is designed to be arranged so that-the milk dealer can have access thereto for the purpose of delivering the filled bottle and collecting the empty bottle, but permitting the consumer, and he only, to open the door of the cabinet in order that the filled bottle may be removed. The movable bottom constitutes a detent upon which the bottle rests, the said detent controlling the door through the medium of a vertically slidable bolt and a pair of horizontally slidable bolts, one of which is operable by the dealer, to openthe door so that an empty bottle may be removed and a filled bottle substituted there.- for, the door becoming automatically looked as soon as the filled bottle has been introduced into the cabinet and the door closed, while the other bolt carries a bolt-latch which can be actuated by the consumer only, entirely independent of the first mentioned bolt. In other words, the said bolt latch is I Specification of Letters Patent.

-- Patented June 13, 1916.

Application filed July 16, 1915. Serial No. 40,252.

common to both of said horizontal bolts, but 1s controlled independently by said bolts,

and one bolt is intended for the dealer only and the other is provided for the consumer for use at all times. In order that the cabi net will be perfectly sanitary and to main tain a comparatively even temperature of the milk, I provide a filling of cement, a

metallic lining and a plurality of ventilating openings. To the accomplishment of the recited obects, and others coordinate therewith, the

preferred embodiment of my invention re sides in the construction and arrangement shown in the accompanying drawings, hereinafter described andembraced within the scope of the appended claims.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of one of the cabinets embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken along lines 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional elevation of the door and locking mechanism taken along lines 3-3 of Fig. 4. Fig. l is a fragmentary view of the inside of the door showing the locking mechanism. Fig. 5 is a transverse section along lines 55 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view of a portion of the bottom of the cabinet, and Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section taken along line 77 of Fig. 6. 1

Referring more particularly to the drawings for a detail description of my invention, the numeral 1 designates generally the cabinet which may be supported in a manner similar to a letter-box or, as shown in the drawings, fixed directly to the wall of a house or dwelling. Either one or any sired. As will be noted in Figs. 2 and 6,

the cabinet is provided with a compartment '2 having its vertical walls lined with sheet metal 3 and'its bottom constructed of cement 4. I have also found it desirable to utilize cement as a filling between the walls, as at 5, and to use an outside facing of wood 6,all tending to produce a structure which will be sanitary and which'will. preserve the milk at a comparatively uniform temperature. Further provision in this rejacent the top of the door 8.

found it desirable to construct the entire locking mechanism so that it will be primarily.

spect is made by the arrangement of a plurality of screened ventilating openings 7 addependent upon the weight of the bottle. With this principle in mind I have countersunk a detent 9 substantially diametrically of the bottom 4 of the compartment, the in her terminal being pivoted as at'10, and

otherwise provided with longitudinally ex- 7 tending ribs 11 on its under side which at their forward. extremity merge into depending cams 12. A guide pin 13 projects transversely through an arcuate slot 14 in the cams, and a lateral pin 15 protrudes from the base of the cams and isintended to'ride over the inclined face of the vertical projections 16 of the slide 17. Both'the detent 9 and the slide are controlled by coil springs 18 and 19, respectively, the former passing through a slot 17 in the slide 17 and resting upon the base of thecountersunk portion, while'the latter is inclosediin a housing 19. 20 r In o'rderto operate the mechanism just described, the consumer first opens the door,

I as will be presently explained,.this being 'compulsorybecause of the extension or lip 20 whichis purposely formed on the lower edge of the door to preclude access to" the operating end of the slide 17. 'With the door open the empty bottle isflseated upon the detent 9 and. the slide 17 is constrained inwardly against the tension of the spring 19, the projections 16 engaging the pin 15 7 carried by the cams 12 and consequently. elevating the latter together with detent 9, of

' p which it is an integral part, until the pin 15 Y termediate the positions shownby full and dotted linesin Fig. 6. -Now thecdoor is closed and onlytemporarily latched so that falls into notches2l of the projections 16. The detent 9 thereby assumes a position 'in-i when themilk' dealer arrives, he may open it and remove the empty bottle. As this is done, spring 18 will be forced to exert its maximum expansive "force and accordingly push the detent upwardly in theposition in dicated by dotted lines in Fig.6,lwhile-the Spring '19 will simultaneously push the It will thus be 7 seen that the detent is coupledwith the door through the medium of the plunger 23, the function of which will shortly appear. It

" will also be seen that after the detent 9 enters slot '22, the said detent cannot move upwardly ordownwardly, regardless ofthe position of the bottle. Consequently it will. [be impossible to open the door without'using the proper key, or unlesslbreaking the door is resorted to. If it were notfor thepres ence of slot 22 in theend of the plunger, it

would be possible to pierce'the wire netting in front of thecabinet and with two fingers,

raise the milkbottles and thus allow the detent to become elevated and the plunger 23 to project inwardly; In this way the door could be easily opened without the use of a key. V

V The,- plunger 23 operates in a sheath 24 having a small spring 25' in its rear end.

1 Extending vertically through a slot 26 in the sheath and connected tothe plunger is a latch 27 designed to cooperate with thedepending keeper'28'mounted on the lower end of a vertically slidablebdlt 29. As best U illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, the bolt 29 is guided in its'movement by means of the studs 30 and elongated slots" 31, and has its upper extremity fashioned into a rack32 which meshes with a pinion '33. Disposed at right angles to bolt 29 is another bolt 34, V 7

also provided with a rack for engagement with the pinion 33. In this connection, it will be pointed out that the pinion is formed of such dimensions as toaccommodate both racks to a nicety. A companion bolt 35 is arranged coincident with the bolt 34 althoughits extremity adjacent the pinion'does not cooperate therewith, but carries atailpiece '36 which is in the path of movement of a tumbler 37 operable through the slot 38 by means of a suitable key. As exhibited in Fig. 5, the two bolts 34 and 35 are constructed so asto present a pair of housings 39 and 40 containing coil springs 41 and 42 which serve to restore the bolts to normal positions. Theouter bolt 35 carries'a pair of cover plates 43 to permit easy inspection of'the springs, and the housings and cover plates as well as the intermediate reduced portions of the bolts are provided with alined slots bracing the bolts, A latch-bolt 46 is common' to both bolts, and has a widened rear terminal 47 bearing against the coil spring '41. This latch-bolt may be manipulated in a retrograde direction by'the movement of either bolt 34 or 35, by moving the knob 48 iin the one instance and operating the tum- "bler 37 in the other instance.

The shoulder 49" of the forward housing of thebolt 34 supplies the connection between the latchbolt 46 and the bolt 34, while the shoulder 50 will serve to transmit movement from the bolt 35 to the latch bolt '46these movements-being manifestly independent of each 7 other.

As previously explained, the plunger 23 44 having pins 45 extending therethrough for the obvious purpose of guiding and remains coupled withthe detent 9'after the 7 door of the cabinet has beenclosed. In inactive posltion the plunger is'extended be- 'yond the plane of the door (see Fig. 3), but

when brought in contact withthe detent it. recedes, and the latch 27' is in turn held in engagement with thekeeper28. With the several parts in the relation just set forth,

the main latch bolt 46 is projected beyond the plane of the door behind the adjacent stationary frameor in locked position. When the consumer desires to remove the bottle of milk he simply inserts a key in the slot 38 and turns it so that the tumbler 37 will force the tail-piece 36 rearwardly whereupon the bolt 35 will move in the same direction and carry the latch bolt 46 with it. The filled bottle is then removed and re placed by an empty one, as hereinbefore described. It will be understood that as soon as the dealer has completed his delivery, the lever will again spring outwardly and through the intermediate mechanism lock the vertical bolt against movement. Since the vertical bolt and the horizontal bolt 3% both mesh with the pinion 33, the bolt 34 cannot then be movedand consequently the knob 48 and latch bolt 4:6 will remain inactive. In short, the only way in which the door can be opened when the cabinet contains a filled bottle is by resort to the proper key which is in possession of the consumer.

In broader aspects my invention comprehends the employment not only of the various means described but of equivalent means for performing the recited functions. It is desired to reserve the right to effect such modifications and variations as may come fairly Within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a compartment adapted to contain a receptacle or the like, a door for said compartment, locking means for the door, means for withdrawing said look ing means, a detent for supporting the receptacle, and means for setting the detent for rendering it inoperative, said means becoming automatically inactive so as to engage and render the Withdrawing means inoperative by the removal of receptacle.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a compartment adapted to contain a receptacle or the like, a door for said compartment, locking means carried by the door comprising a latch bolt, a pair of elements for independently operating said latch-bolt, a depressible detent beneath the receptacle and a slidable plunger engageable with said detent and cooperating with said locking means and adapted upon insertion of the receptacle and closing of the door to render one of said ele.

ments inoperative.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a compartment adapted to contain a receptacle or the like, a door for said compartment, locking means for the door, a depressible detent disposed in the base of said compartment,a slidable plunger engageable with said detent and cooperating with said locking means, and means for elevating said detent to render it inactive, said detent being caused to resume its normal set position in engagement with said locking means, upon insertion of the receptacle and closing of the door.

I. In a device of the character described, the combination of a compartment adapted to contain a receptacle or the like, a door for said compartment, locking means carried by the door, a detent controlling said locking means when the door is closed and said detent is supporting a bottle, a slide for initially setting said detent, and means A carried by the door for preventing access to the slide when said door is closed.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a compartment, a door for said compartment, locking means carried by the door comprising a latch bolt, a pair of relatively movable elements for operating said latch bolt, a bolt cooperating with one of said elements, means actuated upon the insertion of a receptacle in said com partment and the closing of the door for rendering said bolt inoperative, and means for operating the other element at all times.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a compartment, a door for said compartment, locking means carried by the door comprising a latch bolt, apair of relatively movable elements for operating said latch bolt, both of said elements being operable when the door is open, and means depressed by the inserted receptacle for rendering one of said elements inoperative, when the door is closed.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination of a compartment, a door for said compartment, locking means carried by the door, a latch associated with said locking means, withdrawing means for the locking means, a spring actuated plunger connected with said latch, and a detent adapted to engage said plunger when the door is closed and the bottle is supported by said detent, said detent thereby rendering the withdrawing means inoperative, and said latch being disengaged from said locking means when the door is open.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS A. JENKINS Witnesses:

MARY J. LIVINGSTON, Mrs. A. MGKENNA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0. 

